Couple very loose points:
1.SSC was covered very well for both forehand and backhand by videos of Heath Waters
2.There was a lot of discussion about SSC around 2007
3.I am NOT able to find these videos to be available on ipad and iphone
4.I am still able to see these videos in my laptop running Windows.
5.For those interested please google on
"backhand reflex heath waters"

One of interesting entries is by tricky around 2007
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The thing I really like about Heath Waters's work is how he's incorporated some biomechanical concepts into tennis instruction. Stuff like the myotatic stretch reflex and the stretch-shorten cycle into tennis. The SSC is pretty powerful; it can increase the effective "power" of a muscle up to 100%, if only for milleseconds. This is pretty much the basis of plyometric training; basketball and football players are well acquainted with this.

That said, I do kind disagree with his interpretation of the SSC for the modern FH strokes here and there. But it's good to know that this kind of information is getting out there.

On other boards I travel, this and other concepts (i.e. prioreceptors, neural drive, rate coding, GTO inhibition, irradiation techniques, etc.) becomes part of the discourse when breaking down any performance movement. It's a very, very important part for powerlifting and OL competitions, for example. It gives you another way to look at the problem.

That said, I don't know how much more value is in subscribing to another site if you're already hooked up to tennisplayer or hi-tech. TP has maybe the best pure instruction; and hi-tech has some of the best, most useful camerawork.

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Last edited by tricky : 03-02-2007 at 06:56 PM.

Is 100% increase of power a realistic number? I have read numbers around 20-30%

Elliot quoted YOUR 20% in an article/interview which used to be available at tennisicoach.com
The interview diappeared but a new interview is coming from this Web site.
Your question is complex because IF the elastic energy goes from biceps (triceps ?) to a wrist we have dissipation of energy.

I used to play 4.5 USTA tournaments and 9.0 doubles leagues.
I used to coach a college tennis team (men).
I work for a tennis club in MA.
Am I helping you?
PS I used to coach volleyball,basketball and I am a sailing instructor as well.
I am a member of Team Babolat.
With "some pain" you may find my USPTA Web site.

One thing that can help achieving the SSC in the FH is trying to keep the tip of the racket rather at the same point from the Pat the dog (end of takeback after racket has lowered but not laid back yet) to the slot position (lag).

see the tip of the racket is relation to rogs knee. the less the tip of your racket moves between those frames the better. fed literally seems to have a RHS of zero in that frame which creates that hesitation look. his rotation and arm swing is halfway over and the racket tip has still not accelerated forward. that creates a ton of stretch.

you can practice that by starting in the PTD and have someone grab your tip of racket while you rotate the hips and pull the arm forward and away from the body.

One thing that can help achieving the SSC in the FH is trying to keep the tip of the racket rather at the same point from the Pat the dog (end of takeback after racket has lowered but not laid back yet) to the slot position (lag).

see the tip of the racket is relation to rogs knee. the less the tip of your racket moves between those frames the better. fed literally seems to have a RHS of zero in that frame which creates that hesitation look. his rotation and arm swing is halfway over and the racket tip has still not accelerated forward. that creates a ton of stretch.

you can practice that by starting in the PTD and have someone grab your tip of racket while you rotate the hips and pull the arm forward and away from the body.

I think you are right in what you are seeing, but I think that this is a result of the pronated backswing that Federer uses. If you are using a normal supinated backswing, then it helps that your wrist is in a neutral position (rather than laid back). But the type of lag you get between the two feel very different. For a good example of pronated takeback, see the current front page of Tennis Warehouse with Andy Murray. His racquet is basically parallel to the ground that it is pointing basically toward the side fence. Can't achieve this without pronation (though I could be wrong).